Table of Contents
What is Docker?
Docker is an open source container runtime that allows you to build, run, and manage applications in isolated environments called containers. Sometimes, an application may work properly when it’s developed on a computer but break when moved to a main server due to different settings. Docker solves this by running the application in an isolated environment, called a container. This ensures the app runs exactly the same way, no matter where you put it. Moreover, you will often use Docker on Ubuntu 26.04 to ensure compatibility and easy deployment.
Why use Docker?
Safety
Because containers are isolated, they have a “lock” function. This means if something goes wrong inside the container, it won’t crash your main server or interfere with other apps. Running Docker specifically on Ubuntu 26.04 enhances these safety benefits for users of this operating system.
Consistency
It provides a universal way to package software, making it much easier for developers to build and move applications to the cloud.
Efficiency
Docker containers share the main system’s resources, making them much faster and “lighter” than traditional virtual computers.
In this guide, we will walk you through the simple steps to install Docker on Ubuntu 26.04.
Installation Prerequisites
- An Ubuntu 26.04 VPS with at least 4GB of RAM is required to install Docker reliably.
- SSH access with sudo privileges or root access is required for the installation as described here.
Conventions
# – given commands should be executed with root privileges either directly as a root user or by use of sudo command
$ – given commands should be executed as a regular userStep 1. Update the System
First, we need to log in to our Ubuntu 26.04 VPS via SSH. To properly prepare to install Docker, ensure you are on the supported OS version.
ssh admin@IP_Address -p Port_numberReplace “admin” with a user that has sudo privileges or root if necessary. Additionally, replace “IP_Address” and “Port_Number” with your server’s respective IP address and SSH port number. Next, let’s make sure that we’re on Ubuntu 26.04. You can verify it with this command:
$ lsb_release -aYou should get this as the output for Ubuntu 26.04. It’s important for Docker installations to confirm your OS version.
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu Resolute Raccoon
Release: 26.04
Codename: resoluteThen run the following command to ensure all installed packages on the server are up to date, as this step is necessary before beginning the installation.
$ sudo apt update Step 2. Install Docker
At the time of this writing, Docker is not available at Docker’s APT repository for Ubuntu version 26.04. We can install Docker from the Ubuntu Resolute repository. Let’s execute the command below to install Docker. As a result, you will run the installation via an alternative repository.
$ sudo apt install docker.io The command above will prompt you to continue or not.
Installing:
docker.io
Installing dependencies:
bridge-utils dns-root-data git iptables liberror-perl libip6tc2 libnfnetlink0 libnftnl11 patch runc
containerd dnsmasq-base git-man less libip4tc2 libnetfilter-conntrack3 libnftables1 nftables pigz ubuntu-fan
Suggested packages:
ifupdown cgroupfs-mount debootstrap docker-compose-v2 rinse | zfsutils git-email gitk git-cvs firewalld diffutils-doc
aufs-tools | cgroup-lite docker-buildx docker-doc zfs-fuse git-doc git-gui gitweb git-svn ed
Summary:
Upgrading: 0, Installing: 21, Removing: 0, Not Upgrading: 0
Download size: 72.6 MB
Space needed: 284 MB / 5438 MB availableHit ENTER to continue with the installation. Once completed, the Docker service will be automatically running. You can check whether Docker is active on your Ubuntu 26.04 system with this command.
$ sudo systemctl status docker
The command above will print an output like this, demonstrating Docker’s installation success on Ubuntu 26.04.
● docker.service - Docker Application Container Engine
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/docker.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Fri 2026-01-16 08:17:46 UTC; 18s ago
Invocation: 4c35171107944cfebb334ff84b0fddca
TriggeredBy: ● docker.socket
Docs: https://docs.docker.com
Main PID: 2201 (dockerd)
Tasks: 11
Memory: 20.9M (peak: 21.2M)
CPU: 693ms
CGroup: /system.slice/docker.service
└─2201 /usr/bin/dockerd -H fd:// --containerd=/run/containerd/containerd.sock
Jan 16 08:17:45 ubuntu26 dockerd[2201]: time="2026-01-16T08:17:45.400599665Z" level=info msg="Loading containers: start."
Jan 16 08:17:46 ubuntu26 dockerd[2201]: time="2026-01-16T08:17:46.076963895Z" level=info msg="Loading containers: done."
Jan 16 08:17:46 ubuntu26 dockerd[2201]: time="2026-01-16T08:17:46.103029611Z" level=info msg="Docker daemon" commit=28.2.2-0ubuntu1 containerd-snapshotter=false storage-driver=overlay2 version=28.2.2
Jan 16 08:17:46 ubuntu26 dockerd[2201]: time="2026-01-16T08:17:46.103180165Z" level=info msg="Initializing buildkit"
Jan 16 08:17:46 ubuntu26 dockerd[2201]: time="2026-01-16T08:17:46.121845905Z" level=info msg="Completed buildkit initialization"
Jan 16 08:17:46 ubuntu26 dockerd[2201]: time="2026-01-16T08:17:46.128727119Z" level=info msg="Daemon has completed initialization"
Jan 16 08:17:46 ubuntu26 dockerd[2201]: time="2026-01-16T08:17:46.128966797Z" level=info msg="API listen on /run/docker.sock"
Jan 16 08:17:46 ubuntu26 systemd[1]: Started docker.service - Docker Application Container Engine.Step 3. Run Docker without Sudo
The Docker daemon binds to a Unix socket. When running the Docker command without sudo, you will get this error message. This step is relevant for Docker setups, including those on Ubuntu 26.04.
docker: permission denied while trying to connect to the Docker daemon socket at unix:///var/run/docker.sock: Head "http://%2Fvar%2Frun%2Fdocker.sock/_ping": dial unix /var/run/docker.sock: connect: permission denied
Run 'docker run --help' for more informationTo run Docker commands without sudo, we need to add the user we want to the Docker group, particularly when operating on Ubuntu 26.04.
$ sudo usermod -aG docker $USERFor example, let’s add the user “master” to the Docker group. These instructions also apply to Docker installations on Ubuntu 26.04.
$ sudo usermod -aG docker masterNow, you can switch to the user ‘master’ and run Docker without sudo. This enhances ease of use for your users.
$ su - master
$ docker run hello-world
The command will print a message like this, confirming that your user is properly set up for Docker on Ubuntu 26.04.
Unable to find image 'hello-world:latest' locally
latest: Pulling from library/hello-world
17eec7bbc9d7: Pull complete
Digest: sha256:05813aedc15fb7b4d732e1be879d3252c1c9c25d885824f6295cab4538cb85cd
Status: Downloaded newer image for hello-world:latest
Hello from Docker!
This message shows that your installation appears to be working correctly.
To generate this message, Docker took the following steps:
1. The Docker client contacted the Docker daemon.
2. The Docker daemon pulled the "hello-world" image from the Docker Hub.
(amd64)
3. The Docker daemon created a new container from that image which runs the
executable that produces the output you are currently reading.
4. The Docker daemon streamed that output to the Docker client, which sent it
to your terminal.
To try something more ambitious, you can run an Ubuntu container with:
$ docker run -it ubuntu bash
Share images, automate workflows, and more with a free Docker ID:
https://hub.docker.com/
For more examples and ideas, visit:
https://docs.docker.com/get-started/Step 4. Docker Commands
After installing Docker, you can create and run Docker images. These are some examples of Docker commands you might use after deployment.
docker searchThis command will help you search for applications that are available in Docker, which is the same experience on Docker for Ubuntu 26.04.
docker pullDocker pull is used for taking the application from the official Docker Hub. For example, we can pull WordPress. docker pull wordpress. This operation works the same way on Docker on Ubuntu 26.04.
docker rundocker run command is used for creating a container from an image. As see in the previous step, we ran docker run hello-world command. These are typical Docker commands on Ubuntu 26.04 systems.
For more commands, you can check it with docker –help; all these commands function on Docker on Ubuntu 26.04.
$ docker help
Usage: docker [OPTIONS] COMMAND
A self-sufficient runtime for containers
Common Commands:
run Create and run a new container from an image
exec Execute a command in a running container
ps List containers
build Build an image from a Dockerfile
pull Download an image from a registry
push Upload an image to a registry
images List images
login Authenticate to a registry
logout Log out from a registry
search Search Docker Hub for images
version Show the Docker version information
info Display system-wide information
Management Commands:
builder Manage builds
container Manage containers
context Manage contexts
image Manage images
manifest Manage Docker image manifests and manifest lists
network Manage networks
plugin Manage plugins
system Manage Docker
trust Manage trust on Docker images
volume Manage volumes
Swarm Commands:
swarm Manage Swarm
Commands:
attach Attach local standard input, output, and error streams to a running container
commit Create a new image from a container's changes
cp Copy files/folders between a container and the local filesystem
create Create a new container
diff Inspect changes to files or directories on a container's filesystem
events Get real time events from the server
export Export a container's filesystem as a tar archive
history Show the history of an image
import Import the contents from a tarball to create a filesystem image
inspect Return low-level information on Docker objects
kill Kill one or more running containers
load Load an image from a tar archive or STDIN
logs Fetch the logs of a container
pause Pause all processes within one or more containers
port List port mappings or a specific mapping for the container
rename Rename a container
restart Restart one or more containers
rm Remove one or more containers
rmi Remove one or more images
save Save one or more images to a tar archive (streamed to STDOUT by default)
start Start one or more stopped containers
stats Display a live stream of container(s) resource usage statistics
stop Stop one or more running containers
tag Create a tag TARGET_IMAGE that refers to SOURCE_IMAGE
top Display the running processes of a container
unpause Unpause all processes within one or more containers
update Update configuration of one or more containers
wait Block until one or more containers stop, then print their exit codes
Global Options:
--config string Location of client config files (default "/home/master/.docker")
-c, --context string Name of the context to use to connect to the daemon (overrides DOCKER_HOST env var and default context set with "docker context use")
-D, --debug Enable debug mode
-H, --host list Daemon socket to connect to
-l, --log-level string Set the logging level ("debug", "info", "warn", "error", "fatal") (default "info")
--tls Use TLS; implied by --tlsverify
--tlscacert string Trust certs signed only by this CA (default "/home/master/.docker/ca.pem")
--tlscert string Path to TLS certificate file (default "/home/master/.docker/cert.pem")
--tlskey string Path to TLS key file (default "/home/master/.docker/key.pem")
--tlsverify Use TLS and verify the remote
-v, --version Print version information and quit
Run 'docker COMMAND --help' for more information on a command.
For more help on how to use Docker, head to the official Docker docs.Bringing it All Together
That’s it! You have successfully installed Docker on Ubuntu 26.04. Using this combination makes development reproducible and efficient.
Of course, you don’t have to do this installation yourself if you use one of our Ubuntu VPS Hosting services, in which case you can simply ask our expert Linux admins to install it all for you. We are available 24×7 and will address your request immediately. Managing Docker instances is not just about the installation; we can help you optimize your Docker installation if you have an active service with us.
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